In Zimbabwe, Chinese Investment With Hints of Colonialism

The Asian power is exerting greater influence over political and economic systems across Africa

Chinese President Hu Jintao hosts Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe in Beijing / Reuters

China's growing investment and development in Sub-Saharan Africa, dubbed "The Next Empire" by The Atlantic's
Howard French for its historic potential to reshape the continent and
grow Chinese influence, is looking especially imperial these days in
Zimbabwe. The impoverished pariah state, isolated by President Robert
Mugabe's violent suppression of dissent, has put more and more of its
economy and natural resources under Chinese control. The Asian giant, in
return for its investments -- both in Zimbabwean infrastructure and in
Mugabe's personal accounts -- has won near-exclusive dominance of
everything from mineral rights to labor standards, as well as the
apparent acquiescence of local politicians and police. Zimbabwe is far
from a Chinese colony. The country is politically and militarily
sovereign, but as China's economic hold tightens, the African nation's
independence is becoming harder to distinguish.

So far, the
Zimbabweans who are most feeling China's influence in their country are
the workers. As Chinese firms take over business and Chinese managers
come to run everything from billion-dollar mining companies to the
downtown restaurants in capital Harare, Zimbabwean workers and labor
unions are complaining of mistreatment and exploitation. Earlier this
month, construction workers went on strike over low pay -- $4 per day --
and what they said were regular beatings by their managers Chinese
managers with the Anhui Foreign Economic Construction Company. The case
is just one of many that has labor groups -- one of the few segments of
Zimbabwean politics that enjoys latitude from the ruling party -- up in
arms.

Reports of beatings by Chinese managers are so common that
even a cook at Harare's popular China Garden restaurant complained of
them, telling the Zimbabwe Mail & Guardian, "Working for these men from the East is hell on earth."

"Workers
continue to endure various forms of physical torture at the hands of
these Chinese employers right under the noses of the authorities," a
spokesperson for the the Zimbabwe Construction and Allied Trade Workers' Uniontold
the same newspaper. "One of the most disturbing developments is that
most of the Chinese employers openly boast that they have government
protection and so nothing can be done to them. This clearly indicates
that the issue has more serious political connotations than we can
imagine."

The labor spokesperson's fears of political
capture are probably not misplaced. China has adeptly co-opted much of
the country's political leadership, buying impunity for Chinese managers
as well as control over much of Zimbabwe's economy. China recently paid
$3 billion for exclusive access to Zimbabwe's extensive platinum
rights, a contract estimated
to be worth $40 billion. It might seem surprising that Mugabe would
take such a lopsided deal, but platinum is both expensive and
time-consuming to extract. His country has a national debt of $7.1
billion, which is larger than the national GDP, and with his regime so
isolated from the international community, few other sources of
investment.

But don't feel too sorry for Mugabe --
Zimbabwe-watchers suspect that the autocratic president benefits
personally from these kinds of deals from China. It's not hard to find
the payoff -- he keeps a large (and heavily guarded) mansion in Hong Kong, where he is often seen on shopping sprees
under the guard of Chinese special police. Mugabe also depends on his
Hong Kong home for another reason: because the sanctioned leader cannot
legally travel to Europe, he will need a place of safe refuge if he is
ever ousted from power. The 87-year-old ruler even relies
on Chinese medical treatment. Like the French-imposed monarchs of 19th
century North Africa, or the Soviet-sponsored premiers of Cold War-era
Eastern Europe and Central Asia, Mugabe is coming to depend on his
Chinese sponsor for his personal economic and physical well-being.

China's
grasp on Zimbabwe extends beyond even the African country's economy and
political system. A massive military compound is under construction
in Harare, built by Chinese firms and with a Chinese loan of $98
million. The open-ended loan, which the already indebted Zimbabwean
government has no obvious way of paying back, means that this component
of the country's military will be effectively Chinese-owned. Because
Mugabe relies on the military not just for defending the borders but for
maintaining the oppression that keeps him in power, the expensive
facility will hand a small but important part of Zimbabwean sovereignty
over to Chinese lenders.

This isn't the first time that Zimbabwe
has relied on China for its security needs. During the 2008 political
crisis, when Mugabe deployed violence to retain control of the country
after declaring victory in a heavily disputed election, South African
dock workers discovered
that China was shipping in weapons for Mugabe's army. There's no
telling what Mugabe promised in exchange for the guns he needed to
maintain control, but the effect has been to deepen China's influence
over what happens, and who rules, in Zimbabwe.

Zimbabwe's
combination of debt, political reliance, and now military reliance --
not to mention the increasing number of local and national businesses
under Chinese supervision -- has blurred the line between Chinese
investment in Zimbabwe and Chinese control over Zimbabwe. And though
this case of Chinese encroachment in Africa may be an extreme example --
due in large part to the political and economic vacuum that Western
sanctions have left in Zimbabwe -- it is far from the only one. China
recently signed a deal
with Mauritania, for example, for 25 years of control of the country's
economically important fishing resources. In 2006, China paid Mozambique
$2 billion for a deal to dam off the Zambezi river and send 3,000 settlers to populate the valley, some of the country's most fertile land. China is snatching up agricultural land across the continent, often with leases nearing a century in length.

For
now, in Zimbabwe and elsewhere, China appears to be using its newfound
leverage mostly for economic gain. But it's not hard to foresee a day
when it could exert its enormous influence over African domestic
politics or even foreign policy. To what end China would turn its
African beneficiaries into African proxies, and what that would mean for
the billions of people led by African governments increasingly reliant
on Chinese sponsorship, only time will tell.

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